


defense

by frizzoli (timequakes)



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-09
Updated: 2012-11-09
Packaged: 2017-11-18 06:52:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/558110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timequakes/pseuds/frizzoli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>defense is all that matters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	defense

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Rysler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rysler/pseuds/Rysler) in the [wosopromptatoes](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wosopromptatoes) collection. 



Defense is all that matters.

That's not to say that the forwards don’t have a purpose-- they do, clearly, but they're the heroes. They're grandeur, they're bombast and victory and risks that have no consequence if not taken. Their rules are few and their space is expansive. The back line is, and always has been, a fortress, each leg, each foot, each body contributing to the walls, the center serving as lookout, the corners putting themselves on the line at any possible moment while also being aware that without the ability to recover instantaneously they can and will become a liability.

Defense is pressure.

-

There are no rooms for mistakes when you are stone and mortar. Kelley learned that very quickly; learned that her tendency to rush in was not welcome there, that any hint of showoffy fielding would keep her under the label ‘green’ for years. She learned to quench the urge to slide in and made herself realize that doing what she does, waiting for trouble to present and using calm, simple, efficient technique to neutralize that trouble, is worthy of just as much praise as scoring a goal.

She refuses to be the weak link and that, more than anything else, is what draws Hope to her side.

-

Hope has mastered the art of appearing ‘aware but aloof’ when she is not between the goalposts. Following her fall from grace (which is the name she likes the best, because ‘expulsion’ isn’t technically correct, ‘suspended’ is too academic, and ‘grace’ suggests a rise that can be made again) she made that her priority; in fact, she spent several hours crafting herself into the kind of person whose mind could not be read. Wearing her heart on her sleeve and being too quick to vocalize had gotten her into trouble she knew she couldn’t afford again, and after a brief crossroads between ‘remaining vocal’ and ‘returning to my life’ she had set out with her characteristic focus to make very sure that particular problem would never reappear.

As in most parts of her life, she went a little overboard. Not because she was unaware, but because she was so afraid of the alternative that she trusted /nobody/ to know what she was thinking, not even Carli, and at times not even herself. She didn’t expect that to change and she didn’t mind too much, because she was still herself around her family and once she’d settled back in Richland she could live a double life fairly easily.

But nobody was expecting Kelley O’Hara. Hope least of all.

She showed up to the winter camp as bug-eyed and bushy-tailed as any of the greens but she made a quick impression and even on the bench Hope was very aware of her. Although she wasn’t used frequently, almost everyone who was looking could see that she had major potential, especially considering her background as a forward. When Ali was hurt, with the 2012 Olympics bearing down on them, Kelley proved herself ready for the pressure, and the sudden hole in the defensive line was patched up so perfectly that often Hope forgot it had been there to begin with.

Kelley played every single minute of the Olypmics.

Hope noticed.

Everyone noticed, but for Kelley, the fact that Hope had noticed- that _Hope Solo_  pulled her aside after the initial elation wore off and said, “I’m proud of you, KO,” made all the difference in the world. Hope was magnetizing, half because of her celebrity status and infamy and half because she was so hard to really know. Kelley knew she had a knack for getting people to open up to her; for as long as she could remember she had been the listener and for whatever reason she wanted to hear Hope’s story more than anyone else’s.

She still hasn’t heard it, but she’s read it, and that’s as close as she expects to get. Sometimes if she mentions it, drops it into conversation, she can see the wall come down and something behind Hope’s eyes shift to warmth. She doesn’t expect, of course, that her relentlessness will get her half as close as it does.

-

There’s something about the way she says it- “I wanna know what you’re thinking,” and Hope just kind of snaps.

Kelley is just as solid in person as she is on the field, when Hope pushes her back against one of the empty lockers and kisses her. There’s something so _real_  about it, about Kelley, who responds immediately, winding her arms around Hope’s neck.

“That’s not what I was expecting,” Kelley laughs after Hope pulls back.

Hope shrugs.

“You’re not what I expected.”  


“Should I take that as a compliment?”

Hope just raises an eyebrow in response to that question, backing off and heading for the door. When Kelley doesn’t immediately follows she turns to say over her shoulder: “You don’t wanna be late, do you?”

Because in the end, what Hope’s really thinking is that defense is all that matters.

Defense on the field. Defense of her thoughts. Defense of her heart.

Only maybe- just maybe- she’s willing to let a goal in every once in a while.

**Author's Note:**

> written to fulfill a prompt on the endless ficathon!


End file.
